The Vendée Globe race 2008/2009 will be long remembered. Following the 30 Vendée Globe race skippers, we experienced lots of different feelings; fear, joy and excitement until the very end... But this Vendée Globe was a special occasion for all of us at MaxSea. It was the first world tour in race conditions for our newest software — MaxSea Time Zero.

A technical partnership with Mer Agitée, the Michel Desjoyeaux racing team:
We developed our new routing module with the guidance Michel Desjoyeaux and his team, Mer Agitée. Developing a tool which would give him the advantage over his competitors was an ambitious project. After many long hours and revisions to meet Michel’s expectations and demands, MaxSea succeeded in developing the most advanced routing software available for ocean sailing, racing and cruising, available today.

The new Routing Module:
MaxSea v12.6 pioneered sail routing using the isochrones method. With the introduction of Time Zero, MaxSea has completely reengineered the routing module for racers.
In previous versions, the routing calculation used the boat’s polars based upon wind conditions and tidal currents to calculate routing. Now it incorporates wave polars and sail set polars to calculate a result much closer to real conditions. The wave polars include ocean and wave conditions in the calculation and the sail set polars enable the calculation of the optimal sail configuration for the conditions.
MaxSea’s new routing module also introduces a Trust Rate calculation. This defines real conditions compared with optimal conditions; thus optimizing transit times.
The new MaxSea Time Zero interface is friendlier, more ergonomic and faster to give navigation information immediatly to the skipper.

First World Tour… and First Win:
Once the Time Zero technology development was completed, the real challenge lay ahead. We still had to be at the Vendée Globe start and win… and that’s exactly what Michel Desjoyeaux did…
The MaxSea Team is happy to join the sailing world to congratulate him. We are very proud: MaxSea Time Zero was a 4 years project and Michel’s trust and contributions priceless gratitude for us.

Tested in the extreme conditions of the Vendée Globe race and meeting the skipper’s expectations, MaxSea Time Zero won its first title… We will continue improving our tools and continue to strive on our 20 year goal to provide efficient and innovative navigation solutions to everyone who traverses the sea.